e Readers Reviews: Cake files for bankruptcy

Friday, February 02, 2024

Good afternoon, and welcome to TechCrunch PM. As you head into the weekend, slice into our story about e-motorcycle company Cake filing for bankruptcy, scan the list of robotics companies that are hiring, learn what will happen to Spotify as Joe Rogan goes rogue and see which investor is all in on blockchain. Have a great weekend! — Christine

Image Credits: Cake

Don't Miss StrictlyVC In Los Angeles On Feb. 29

TechCrunch PM Top 3

Cake's latest struggle demonstrates how fragile fundraising still is: Electric motorcycle company Cake confirmed that it is filing for bankruptcy. The move came as the company worked to secure additional funding. It seems when one investor pulled out, Cake had to find another solution.

Some good tech news for a change: The tech layoffs we've seen over the past few years are no fun; however, we have some good news for you if you work in robotics, or want to. A list of 30 robotics companies who are hiring.

It's here! Apple Vision Pro Day: It's February 2, and in addition to learning if it will be an early spring, it’s Apple Vision Pro Day. As thousands of preorders roll in, we have your look at some of the independent apps and games that will arrive with the device. Oh, and check out the first apps you should download.

Image Credits: Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch, with stock photos from Getty under license

More top reads

Joe Rogan is no longer Spotify-exclusive: Spotify signed another multi-year agreement with the controversial podcaster; however, new for this time is that Rogan's show can also be launched on other audio platforms.

Cloud computing comes back: Learn what breathed new life into the cloud computing space this quarter to cause the sector's revenue to have some big growth.

New venture capital alert: Niremia Collective is the latest women-led fund to close on a debut fund. The firm, led by Naoko Okumoto and Nichol Bradford, deploys capital into well-being technology.

Pitch Deck Teardown: Head over to TechCrunch+ to see how PhageLab's $11 million Series A deck stands up to Haje Jan Kamps' critical eye for pitch slides.

European Union's AI Act is closer to adoption: Member state representatives voted to confirm the final text of the draft law, which is a risk-based plan for regulating applications of artificial intelligence. Read about the act's journey to get there.

A focus on blockchain: In case you missed Jacquelyn Melinek's Chain Reaction episode from this week, she writes about her discussion with Andreessen Horowitz partner Chris Dixon and his view on the "productive side of blockchain." (TC+)

SpaceX slays a Dragon: Thanks to a new program inviting research on crewed Dragon missions, Elon Musk's space mission company is poised to become the co-owner of valuable data, biological samples and possibly even patents and intellectual property related to human spaceflight.

Blackbaud ordered to end reckless security practices: The education technology company is still cleaning up after a 2020 breach that resulted from what the U.S. federal government deemed was "lax" security protocols.

Image Credits: IR_Stone / Getty Images

On the pods

In today's Equity, Kirsten Korosec, Karyne Levy and Alex Wilhelm ran down some of this week's headlines. Among them, a recap of what happened when Big Tech CEOs met with Congress, deals of the week, more fintech layoffs and automating the work of investors. Listen here.